Original Airdate

Synopsis

High Point

The elevator conversation was pretty nifty, though
pretty much any of
Lionel’s dialogue from that point on could qualify.

Low Point

That’s a pretty specific lesson to learn from a man
who doesn’t know
you. The Hangman game pretty much implied a closer
relationship than
there was.

The Review

It’s a fairly original episode, putting
Lionel in an unusual
position, giving us new perspectives on his
relationships with the
other characters, and changing the nature of Clark’s
rescues. After
100 episodes, it’s hard to do something new, but
there’s a lot that’s
new here. I give it 5 out of 6.

The effects are physical effects, superpowers
we’ve seen many
times, or some rotten blue screening as John Glover
jumps away from
dangers that are obviously nowhere near where he is.
I give it 4 out
of 6.

The story is fairly well done. We don’t
learn a lot about
the villain, but that’s the point. The opening
sequence doesn’t quite
mesh with the rest of the episode, but once that’s out
of the way, the
rest works quite well. I give it 4 out of 6.

The acting from O’Toole and Glover was great,
and was the
driving force of the episode. When your episode is
being driven by
tension, you need to make sure your characters are
tense, and the
actors pulled it off nicely. I give it 5 out of 6.

The emotional response was damped a little by
the disconnect
between teaser and reveal, and by the painful amount
of time it took
the characters to realize it was an anagram. Still,
the last two acts
and their implications for Clark’s relationship with
both Luthors make
up for a lot of that. I give it 5 out of 6.

James Marshall did well with the production.
I had a hard
time not thinking of the set as the fake school
redressed, but that’s
not really the director’s fault in most cases. It
does somewhat irk
me that the characters’ faces were constantly well lit
while the set
wasn’t. I give it 5 out of 6.

Overall, it was a good episode, and a break
from the usual
teen angst we’ve been getting. I give it 5 out of 6.

Random questions and musings:3. If Lionel knew about Clark, why was he so surprised at the save?

Perhaps he only had evidence (i.e. knowledge, video, pictures, etc) of Clark’s powers, but he had yet to witness anything personally. Without personally witnessing something, it was still possible to all be fabricated and not true (perhaps he thought it could’ve all been planted by Lex to draw Lionel into investigating Clark) – However, seeing it with his own eyes made all the difference.

What I want to know is if they had to pay royalties to Saw for the plot. :)

mjcohenApril 21, 2006 @ 6:10 am

Decent into total absurdityUpon further consideration, this plot has to have the most absurd plot holes of any Smallville episode I can recall:

That random person would know (somewhat) how Lionel felt about Martha.

Totally absurd (or "We don’t need any stinking laws of physics"):

That Chloe (or anybody) could find out where a broadcast was being RECEIVED, down to the address.

That Clark could stop the falling elevator without the elevator being damaged or the occupants being hurt. They would have been hurt MORE by the impact being concentrated in Clark’s hands instead of being spread out over the whole floor of the elevator.

They must have had 15 minutes to devise the plot after thinking "Lionel and Martha in Saw!".

Also, Lex teaching Lana was merely silly, so, compared with the rest of the episode, that is quite reasonable.

Martin Cohen

vanyelApril 22, 2006 @ 1:04 pm

Re: Decent into total absurdity

Lex accepting Lionel’s explanation of how they survived.

I don’t think he did accept it. He knows there’s something about Clark, and that Lionel knows what it is and is hiding it. But he also knows he’s not going to get it out of his dad, so bides his time and continues searching.

This was the biggest problem I had with the episode: someone who’s recently been bankrupted by Lionel’s shenanigans isn’t going to have the resources to pull that kind of tech off. Especially without tipping anyone off. It probably would have been hard for him even *before* being bankrupted, unless he was pretty well funded and connected.

That Chloe (or anybody) could find out where a broadcast was being RECEIVED, down to the address.

Agreed, but I’m just resigned to that from her character — they’ve clearly given her the role of Deus Ex Machina.

That Clark could stop the falling elevator without the elevator being damaged or the occupants being hurt.

I was thinking that would be a good opportunity for him to have sprouted some of the flying that, although they said he’d never do that, he already has a couple times as I recall. Even so, if he decelerated the elevator over a distance of his rather tall height, it would be a several time reduction from the rather short springs they showed at the bottom. Not enough to have really saved them, but an improvement…

They must have had 15 minutes to devise the plot after thinking "Lionel and Martha in Saw!".

Fortunately, I never saw Saw ;-)

Also, Lex teaching Lana was merely silly

Obviously just an excuse he’s made to see her and vica versa. I didn’t find that part quite so silly…

mjcohenApril 21, 2006 @ 9:39 pm

3 out of 4 by me means nobody else caresyes it does

AlexiusApril 22, 2006 @ 9:56 pm

Re: 3 out of 4 by me means nobody else cares

yes it does

Actually, As Soon As I Watched It I Came here To See If Anyone Else Was As Annoyed At the ‘Saw’ Ripoff As I Was.

Pretty Much All Of Your Points Were Good. If It Weren’t For The Meta Plot, The Stuff That Affects The Whole Season, I’d Think This Was One OF the Worst I’d Seen Yet.

The Stuff Between Lionel, Martha, Clark, Lex, And Lana Was Worth It, Though.

Cloe, While She’s Still Got A Place In My Heart, Was Just Badly Written.

My Highpoint Is Probably The Look Of Jealousy And Hate Lex Gives Clark When Lionel Tells Martha How Special Clark Is.

(And Writing That Many Names Makes It Feel Way Too Much Like A Soap Opera.)

GrimSeanApril 24, 2006 @ 7:43 am

Re: 3 out of 4 by me means nobody else cares

Cloe, While She’s Still Got A Place In My Heart, Was Just Badly Written.

I’m starting to feel sorry for Allison Mack this season – she’s becoming Pete and her lines are getting bad.